As accidents on the interstate go, this is an unlikely one: a small plane made an emergency landing on the I-55 in Illinois and crashed into a passenger vehicle carrying the driver and his minor son.
The story has a happy ending, though: all 3 people involved escaped unharmed. There was minimum damage to the car, but the plane got pretty messed up, KMOV reports.
Some time before the crash, the pilot had tried to land the single-engine Cessna 182B at the Logan County Airport, when he suddenly lost power. According to authorities cited by the publication, the landing gear was also not functional, so the pilot did whatever he could of a very, very bad situation.
In other words, he tried to land on the interstate. He managed to do that, hitting the Chevrolet Malibu in the process, just north of Lincoln. Jeremy Campwerth, 42, was driving home from Chicago with his 9-year-old son when he first saw the plane. The impact came out of nowhere, as the plane had been out of sight for some time, he tells the media outlet.
The plane hit the car from the back, smashing the window and doing some damage to one of the taillights. The driver’s 9-year-old son cowered for protection and was unharmed, though pieces of glass from the window and the plane were thrown in the car, at his feet.
“Someone called me lucky. I would disagree with that, I was unlucky. I was hit by a plane,” Campwerth tells KMOV with a smile. “I am very thankful everyone is okay. I am just thankful of all the things that could have happened with that accident that my son is alright, the pilot is alright, I am alright.”
Campwerth says he expects a call from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), as an investigation into the accident is underway.
Some time before the crash, the pilot had tried to land the single-engine Cessna 182B at the Logan County Airport, when he suddenly lost power. According to authorities cited by the publication, the landing gear was also not functional, so the pilot did whatever he could of a very, very bad situation.
In other words, he tried to land on the interstate. He managed to do that, hitting the Chevrolet Malibu in the process, just north of Lincoln. Jeremy Campwerth, 42, was driving home from Chicago with his 9-year-old son when he first saw the plane. The impact came out of nowhere, as the plane had been out of sight for some time, he tells the media outlet.
The plane hit the car from the back, smashing the window and doing some damage to one of the taillights. The driver’s 9-year-old son cowered for protection and was unharmed, though pieces of glass from the window and the plane were thrown in the car, at his feet.
“Someone called me lucky. I would disagree with that, I was unlucky. I was hit by a plane,” Campwerth tells KMOV with a smile. “I am very thankful everyone is okay. I am just thankful of all the things that could have happened with that accident that my son is alright, the pilot is alright, I am alright.”
Campwerth says he expects a call from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), as an investigation into the accident is underway.